Who Would I Be?

Living in today’s world, you don’t see as much discrimination against races as you used to. For me, a seventeen year old, it is hard to imagine what life was like when all of this segregation and discrimination took place. I have seen the movie The Help twice now, and I love it. I got the movie for Christmas, as well as the book. Both are very good and I would highly recommend them. I can’t help but think, was life really this bad? And then it makes me wonder, what would I have been like if I would have been living back then?

Would I be like…

Hilly Hollbrook: She is the stereotypical rich, white girl, snob. She doesn’t care about anyone else but herself. She thinks that the whole world revolves around her. She is VERY judgmental and VERY racist. I do not think I would be her, because in reality, I am just not that mean. The things she says just make me cringe in every way possible. Yes, we all can have our mean moments, but Hilly is just straight up rude and uncontrollable. I do not think I would be like her because it takes a lot of guts to say half of the stuff she does, and not in a good way.

Elizabeth Leefolt: She is also a stereotypical rich, white girl. However, she is not as much of a snob. Elizabeth hires a maid and has her maid do everything for her. She is mean in certain ways, but she is not as mean as Hilly. I like Elizabeth because she is not as mean as Hilly, but then again I do not like her because she is scared of Hilly and the “power” Hilly has over her. I think I could be a version of Elizabeth. Throughout the story you see that Elizabeth is being manipulated by higher authorities. She tends to go along with what everyone else is doing. These qualities sometimes represent qualities within me. I am a “people-pleaser” and I do what I can to stay “under the radar.” I feel like this is what Elizabeth does throughout the novel and movie.

Miss Skeeter: Eugenia Phelan (Miss Skeeter) represents the greatest and strongest “white girl” in the book/movie. She has so much courage and she is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. I admire Skeeter a lot because not many people could do what she did. I however, do not think I could be Skeeter. Many people would say, “Oh I could definitely see myself being like Skeeter!” But in reality, not many people have that much courage. I am not afraid to admit that I do not have as much courage as Skeeter. I have strong beliefs, but I always think about the consequences first, not the benefits. This prevents me sometimes from doing something I think needs to be done. I look up to Skeeter and I will strive to be more like her.

Celia Foote: Good ol’ Celia Foote is not your typical rich, white girl. She is not very intelligent, but she is extremely nice. She treats everyone she meets with respect even if they are mean to her or of a different race. She treats her maid with the utter most respect and she sees her as a friend. This represents me the most because I treat everyone I meet with respect, because no matter who you are, you deserve some type of respect. Celia represents the “golden rule” to the fullest: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Even though Celia is not the smartest egg in the nest, she makes up for it by being kind and I think that is why so many readers or viewers like her.

I do not know for sure who I would be like if I lived in that time. There are many different things in life that can affect who you are and what you believe. I do think however, that it would be a very eye-opening experience to get to see how life was back then, first hand. But by reading this book, it gives you a glimpse of what life would have been like and how difficult it really was.